Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center will host a free event, Engaging the Generations, June 17, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Greater King David Baptist Church, 222 Blount Road in Baton Rouge. Free cancer screenings, interactive sessions on cancer in black families and other resources will be provided by GMFS Mortgage, Geaux Ride, and Greater King David Baptist Church. The event is being held during National Black Family Awareness Week, an Oncology Center of Excellence Project Community Initiative.
Following are the day’s planned activities:
· 9 a.m. – Skin, colorectal, prostate, and breast cancer screenings
· 9 a.m. – Geaux Ride bike tours and blood pressure, glucose, and BMI health checks.
· 10:30 a.m. – Concurrent workshops for mothers/daughters/sisters and fathers/sons/brothers
· 11:30 a.m. – Luncheon with keynote speaker and giveaways
“Cancer mortality rates continue to be above the national average for black people, so we are bringing together Mary Bird Perkins’ oncologists, community partners, sponsors and more to provide many resources to help prevent cancer and catch the disease in its earliest stages,” said Nicole Honore’, project manager, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. “It will take all of us to save lives of every generation of our black families, and together we can do it.”
Mary Bird Perkins has a long history of providing free cancer prevention, education, and screening services to underserved populations through its Prevention on the Go program. Since 2002, Mary Bird Perkins provided more than 107,000 free cancer screenings and detected more than 800 cancers.
We’ve had cancer touch way too many people in our GMFS family, so if there’s anything we can do to prevent other families from being impacted by the disease, we want to do our part,” said Tee Brown, chief executive officer, GMFS Mortgage. “We are pleased to work with Mary Bird Perkins and others partners to make this event and many other initiatives happen to save more lives.”
For more information, contact Nicole Honoré at (225) 215-1250.
Visit pogo.marybird.com to create an account and sign up for a free cancer screening. All screenings require an appointment.